Outsider Chronicles: Hollow Hero
by Dis Lexic
Summary: I knew that getting reborn into a world like Worm could be dangerous, but I wasn't expecting to get kidnapped by a crazy cult dedicated to the Endbringers to be used as a sacrifice. True, I'm now strong enough that no one will ever be able to permanently hurt me again, but I still could have done without the oversized needle to the heart.
1. Chapter 1

Outsider Chronicles: Hollow Hero

I knew that getting reborn into a world like Worm could be dangerous, but I wasn't expecting to get kidnapped by a crazy cult dedicated to the Endbringers to be used as a sacrifice. True, I'm now strong enough that no one will ever be able to permanently hurt me again, but I still could have done without the oversized needle to the heart.

 **This probably won't get continued, but its an interesting idea and it won't stop bugging me. With that in mind, lets get this written out and maybe it will leave me alone. Enjoy!**

Chapter 1

You know, there are several things about dying that I never wanted to know. To start with, its bloody uncomfortable. Of course, being reborn is even more uncomfortable. Yea, I'm living proof that the Soul is real, despite the fact that I'm a sceptic at the best of times. Of course, that doesn't stop me from feeling like I've ether won the lottery or been sent here due to some horrific sin I committed in my last life. Why? Well, I'd been reborn in a world full of superpowered beings, but it wasn't one where heroes and villains balanced each other out and the heroes always win. It wasn't even My Hero Academia where EVERYONE has powers in one form or another. Oh no, I'm not that lucky. Instead, the world I now lived in was one where the greatest hero was actually its greatest potential threat and was definitely under threat from a bunch of OP monsters. Yep, I'd ended up being reborn in Worm. This is really gonna blow…

* * *

Man, I was right but I had no idea how right I could be. At first, everything seemed fine, my family was reasonably well off, I did well at school and everything seemed to be looking up. Then, my hometown was attacked. Not by an Endbringer, or even the Slaughterhouse Nine, but by a new group who apparently decided that the Endbringers were here to bring about Armageddon and the faithful would be raised to Rapture. Fair enough, the problem was that, in order to prove ones faith, you had to kill the unbelievers in various horrible ways. The result was anarchy, with more than a few people being taken in by the leader, a Father Comstock's, ramblings and joining the Cult, including my own mother. That lead me to now, tied to a post as the last survivor after the rest of the town who didn't jump on the crazy train had been either massacred or had escaped. I had no doubt that the few who had got away would try to call for help, but I doubted they'd arrive in time to save my sorry butt.

"Come now Alexander, stop being so stubborn!" shouted my Mother, religious fervor in her eyes, "You know the truth! Just accept it and walk with me into the light!"

I just fixed her with a flat look.

"I think I'd rather burn in hell than have anything to do with a God that would allow something like this," I said cooly.

Mothers face contorted into an ugly grimous and my breath rushed out of me as she kicked me in the stomach.

"Ohh, try that again, I almost felt it," I growled through clenched teeth.

"Why you little…!"

Mother raised the kitchen knife in her other hand, still stained with my Dads blood. I just stared up at her. If she was going to kill me, I wanted her to do it while looking me in the eye. However, before she could stab me, Comstock suddenly stepped out of the crowd and grabbed her wrist.

"Wait my child," he said.

"But Father…"

"Worry not, you have already done your part," said Comstock with a fake kind smile, "However, Alexander has not done his."

Mother hesitated, before bowing and returning to the crowd as Comstock turned to me.

"I really hope your not planning to waste your breath trying to convince me," I said.

Comstock smiled thinly.

"Of course not," he said, "However, even Unbelievers have their roles in Gods plan. You are a young, healthy man, which makes you the perfect choice."

He reached into his robe and pulled out a rather large needle full of a strange, green fluid that seemed to be glowing faintly.

"What is that?" I asked, eyeing the substance with no small amount of fear.

I highly doubted that would be good for me if it got into my body.

"I am not a fool," said Comstock, ignoring my question, "I am well aware that some of the Heathens escaped and that means that the Protectorate will soon be after us. However, I cannot allow those fools to stop me now. So, I shall leave them a little...gift. Congratulations Alexander White, you will serve Gods plan...as his Demon!"

He drove the needle into my chest and injected the glowing fluid straight into my heart. My body went rigid as I felt it rush through my veins, burning like fire. I have no idea what it was he gave me, but I'm pretty sure it was a Cauldron Viel. That was good news for me...and horrible news for him. As soon as I got loose from these bonds _I was_ _ **going to kiLL HIM!**_

The burning hit my brain and I screamed.

* * *

Comstock straightened, pulling the needle from Alexander's chest and threw it aside. He wasn't entirely sure what it was he'd just injected into the poor boy, but his visions had shown him that it would help stall the Protectorate. However, they had to leave now, before it could take full affect. There was no telling what he'd become after all. With that in mind, he turned to his flock and spread his arms.

"Here me my children!" he called, "You have all done well here today. Many of you have paid your toll and we have gained more Brothers and Sisters who will join us in Heaven. Now, it is time to leave this place and…"

He was cut of by a massive blast of force and a howl that was part Human part...something else.

 **(Might as well play What Can You See In Their Eyes from the Bleach OST for this bit. Thats the theme that plays when Hollow Ichigo is kicking the crap out of Ulquiorra)**

" **GRRRRRRYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"**

Comstock spun around, just in time to see a massive blast of black and red energy erupt off Alexander's body as the thick chains keeping him tied up began to shrek in protest, joining the boy in the horrible howl that sounded like it was coming from the depths of hell. Then, the howl was muffled slightly as a strange, white substance suddenly erupted from the boys mouth, nose and eyes, quickly covering his face and shaping itself over his features. The boy howled again and pulled on his bonds, snapping the metal with ease and allowing him to fall forwards onto his hands and knees as his body began to change as well, becoming visibly more muscled as the colour leaked out of it, leaving it bone white except for a horseshoe shaped marking on his chest with lines coming out of it across his chest and shoulders and his hair rapidly grew out to his waist and turned white. Small tufts of what looked like white fur appeared around his wrists, ankles and neck. Then, there was a loud crack and the still writing fluid on his face erupted, forming a pair of forward facing horns, and solidified into a black and white, skull-like mask.

For a moment, complete silence filled the devastated town, broken only by the faint hissing of cooling ground that had been heated somehow by the transformation. Then, the monsters head snapped up, momentarily revealing yellow eyes, before he vanished and someone in the crowd screamed as the person next to them was sliced in half by a black sword that had appeared out of thin air in the Demon's hand. An instant later, someone on the other side of the crowd was relieved of her head and the crowd broke.

That didn't seem to phase the Demon however as he continued his rampage, using his sword, raw strength, claws, horns and bolts of black and red energy to slaughter the Cultists. Several were decapitated, more had their heads crushed into paste, a few were reduced to ashes by beams of crimson energy fired from between his horns and Alexander's mother had her heart torn out and crushed. All of this was while it completely ignored any attempt to pled or attack it. Bullets simply sparked off its skin like it was made of steel, blades broke on impact and it seemed to have some innate way of targeting Parahumans as the few the Cult had were killed before they could even attempt to attack him. The only one who managed to get a shot off, taking the Demons arm off in the process, was impaled on its horns and then vaporized after seeing the Demon simply regenerate its arm.

* * *

While his flock were being slaughtered, Comstock was busy running for his life. He had quickly realized that nothing short of complete annihilation would be able to stop the Demon. With that in mind, he took advantage of the distraction offered by his Flock and ran for his life. He could rebuild, start again. There were always fools willing to believe just about anything for salvation. All he needed to do was…

THUMP!

Comstock gave a rather undignified squeak and stumbled back as the Demon appeared in front of him with a dull thud of displaced air. The Cult leader stumbled backwards away from the horned monster and ended up tripping over his own feet as the Demon stalked towards him.

"N-no, stay away!" he gasped, "Y-you can't touch me Demon, I am Gods chosen...GLUMPH!"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off as the Demon suddenly appeared right in front of him and grabbed him by the face, throwing him away hard enough that he smashed through three walls before sliding painfully to a stop. Before he could recover, a clawed foot slammed into Comstock's chest, splintering what few ribs remained intact. The Cult leader watched in terror as the Demon bent over as red energy began to gather between its horns. Never in a million years did he believe that he would die in a place like this at the hands of a monster…

BANG!

 **(end track)**

The Demon twitched as a rubber bullet bounced off its mask. It hissed in annoyance as the orb of death between its horns vanished and it glanced over its shoulder. Comstock craned his neck to to see a group of PRT troopers led by Miss Militia, Assault and Battery, indicating that they were from Brockton Bay, the closest city to the town. Comstock never in a million years thought he'd be happy to see the Protectorate, but he'd take being sent to the birdcage any day of the week over facing off against the Demon again.

"Step away from him," said Miss Militia, her voice surprisingly calm considering the enemy she was facing down.

The Demon shifted and, for a brief moment, Comstock thought it was going to attack the Heroes. Apparently, they thought so to as they and the Troopers tensed. Then, Comstocks side erupted into pain as the Demon kicked him right in his destroyed ribcage, sending him flying to land at the Protectorates feet in a broken heap. Then, the Demon did something that scared Comstock more than anything. It spoke.

" **There, I'm away from him,"** it said, its voice echoing and distorted.

Comstock wasn't the only one surprised as the Heroes looked just as taken aback.

"Wait, you can talk?" asked Assault, earning him an elbow from Battery.

The Demon scoffed and stabbed its sword into the ground, it before reached up to its mask. He pushed it up onto his forehead, revealing snow white skin, black lips and yellow eyes with black where the whites should be.

"Of course I can talk you moron," he said, his voice now less distorted but still not exactly normal.

Miss Militia frowned.

"Your a Cape?" she asked.

"Apparently so," said the Demon, "That moron injected me with something and this was the result. The idiot apparently didn't think I wouldn't take offence to being kidnapped, have my home destroyed and injected with glowing goo against my will."

"You did all this?" asked Battery, looking around at the devastation and many, many body's in various states of intactness.

"Sort of," said the Demon, "I think I went into a berserker state for most of it. Most of the ones in the Square were done by the Cultists, but the rest…?"

He gave a grin that made everyone present step back.

"You're damn right I killed them! They destroyed everything I cared about, murdered my friends and family, all for some madman with a god complex because he happens to have Precognition and a bit of charisma! Hell, the only reason I didn't turn that bastard into dust was because I don't feel like accidentally killing anyone just trying to do their job!"

He took a deep breath and fixed Miss Militia with an intense glare.

"With that in mind, what will you do now?" he asked, his hand twitching back to the hilt of his sword.

Miss Militia held up a hand, stopping the Troopers, who had tensed at the white Capes outburst, from doing anything stupid. She could tell that, while appearing (mostly) calm, the white Cape was on a hair trigger and wouldn't hesitate to attack if anyone pulled the trigger. If that happened, she wasn't sure if they could actually stop him. He was clearly a high level Brute at the very least, most likely with Mover and Blaster powers on top of that. All in all, not someone she wanted to fight with just three Capes.

That said, she knew that the PRT would want him brought in, even if the killings would likely end up being ruled as in self defence in exchange for him joining the Wards. Now she just had to hope that he didn't take the request to come in as a threat.

"For now?" said Miss Militia, "I'm going to ask you to accompany us."

White raised an eyebrow.

"Am I under arrest?"

"Not yet," said Miss Militia, "For now, I just want to get everything sorted out. I think we can rule this all as self defence if it does come to that, but before that, we need to get you back to HQ and properly questioned."

White stared at her for a moment longer, before he shrugged.

"Alright, thats fair enough," he said, "Lets…"

CRACK!

Everyone jumped at the sudden sound as a large crack suddenly appeared in White's chest.

"Ohhh, that can't be good," he muttered, "I think I'm about to pass out…"

Those words proved prophetic as his knees buckled and more cracks started appearing across his body, one of horns outright breaking off. Miss Militia jumped forwards as he treated on his feet, first falling to his knees, then forwards as bits of his body began to fall away. She caught him, just as a large crack appeared across his face, before his entire body seemed to shatter, leaving a normal looking teen in its place. Even his sword turned to dust, followed by the remains of his apparent Changer form.

For a moment, there was silence, before Assault broke it in a way that only he could do.

"Well, that was a thing," he said.

A resounding smack echoed around the destroyed town.

 **And done. Phew, well, that was certainly interesting. Like I said up top, I doubt I'll continue this since I really want to keep going with one of my actual Bleach stories. That said, knowing me, I'll probably end up continuing with this anyway…**

 **So, before I sign off, a few things. First off, Alexander's 'Hollow' form. Its basically identical to Ichigo's second Hollowfication, only the red fur is white. It looks better I think. He has all of the powers displayed by Hollow Ichigo/Zangetsu, including Getsuga, Cero, Sonido and instant regeneration. That said, he ISN'T actually a Hollow.**

 **Yes, Comstock is a reference to Bioshock, no I have no intention of adding it to this or any of my stories. I just needed a name for the Cult leader and that seemed like a good one. Incidentally, he is a Cape, but his power is just a minor Thinker one that manifests as something similar to Precog, although more along the lines of seeing vague visions of possible futures that only become properly interpretable after the fact. How he got his hands on a Cauldron Vail is unknown, although it was probably deliberate on someone's part considering how it turned out.**

 **I'm not actually sure if Alex's power would be considered Changer or Breaker. He can only use most of his powers while in his Hollowfied state, although his regeneration remains intact, which I think would be classed as a Breaker. The Wiki's not being very helpful here.**

 **Anyway, my confusion aside, I'm gonna sign of. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!**


	2. Chapter 2

Outsider Chronicles: Hollow Hero

I knew that getting reborn into a world like Worm could be dangerous, but I wasn't expecting to get kidnapped by a crazy cult dedicated to the Endbringers to be used as a sacrifice. True, I'm now strong enough that no one will ever be able to permanently hurt me again, but I still could have done without the oversized needle to the heart.

 **And we're back. I didn't actually intend to do more of this, but since it got such a good reception, fuck it. Enjoy!**

Chapter 2

Two week had passed since my 'Trigger' and subsequent rampage and things had mostly been sorted out. Considering what had happened and the fact that the Cult was on the verge of getting a Kill Order anyway due to the massive body count they had reportedly stacked up, I ended up not even being charged for slaughtering most of the Cult. Comstock ended up getting sentenced to the Birdcage shortly after, despite his apparent attempts to set up an insanity plea by screaming about God and the end of the world and how we were all heathens who would burn in Hell. The Judge had been unimpressed and ended up having him gagged.

* * *

I still ended up being drafted into the Wards though. I was a still a Minor and all my family was dead or, in the case of my Grandmother, my last living relative, locked up in an old folks home mumbling about pickles and gumming down sweets. Combine that with my high levels of power and the Protectorate would be fools to not get me under their banner. Unfortunately, that meant I was left at Glenn Chambers mercy...unfortunate for him that is.

Seriously, the man might be good, but how the fuck are you supposed to turn a six foot, horned monster with a skull for a face into anything even remotely PR friendly? It certainly didn't help when I demonstrated my powers and ended up blasting a hole in the wall of the Rig with a Cero and somehow managed to knock Aegis unconscious after he told me to go all out. I did and the Ward leader couldn't even keep up with my base speed without me using Sonido. Needless to say, the big man was currently tearing his hair out in despair.

Speaking of my powers, it didn't take me long to figure out that I had all of the abilities of Vasto Lorde Ichigo, up to and including Getsuga Tenshou, although I could only use them while I was in my 'Hollowfied' state. Well, other than my regeneration. I discovered I still had that in my Human form after I cut myself by accident and it healed within a half hour. I was also in way better shape than I had been, although I think that might have something to do with my regeneration taking my body to the peak of Human ability rather than anything superhuman. Oh, and I could also summon my mask whenever I wanted for a boost in strength, speed, endurance and so on, although I wasn't anywhere near as powerful as when I was fully Hollowfied. To bad I couldn't summon my sword outside of my full Hollow form or I might have chosen that as my primary Hero mode. Sure, my mask was still scary, but it was infinitely less intimidating than my Demonic full Changer state.

* * *

"So, where exactly are we going?" I asked as I followed Miss Militia down the halls of the PRT Headquarters.

"Well, Glenn might still be pulling his hair out over trying to come up with a way of making you a little more PR friendly, but you still need to meet your teammates at some point," said the Patriotic Heroine.

I blinked.

"I've been in and out of here and the Rig for the past two weeks," I said, "Why now?"

"Mostly because of the circumstances surrounding you," said Miss Militia, "Between trying to figure out what your capable of, the trial and deciding how to deal with you, its sort of fallen by the wayside."

"Because its a given that I'm joining," I grumbled.

"Yep."

I scowled. I still wasn't really pleased with having my options taken away like that, but considering my other option was running and becoming a Villain, I'd suck it up and deal with it. Besides, I was 16, so it was only for two years and after that, I was going solo.

"Fair enough I guess," I grumbled, "So, should I suit up or…?"

"No, I wouldn't bother," said Miss Militia, "None of the other Wards will be in costume and, since you'll be a team, you'll know each others identities anyway."

"Fair enough," I said again.

"Oh, cheer up," said Miss Militia, "I know its not ideal, but it really is the best option."

I let out a huff, but didn't respond. I wasn't entirely sure that was true, but I wasn't about to risk the PRT changing their minds and punting me into the Birdcage. Miss Militia just patted me on the back and stopped as we reached the door to the lift that would take us down to the Ward HQ. She lent forwards and let the retinal scanner do its thing. A moment later, the lift opened and we stepped inside.

"So, anything I should know before I meet em?" I asked.

"Well, you met Aegis briefly when we were testing your powers," said Miss Militia.

"And then promptly knocked him unconscious," I said.

Miss Militia coughed awkwardly.

"Yes, that, although he won't hold a grudge for that," she said, "Hes to professional. Other than that, the only thing I can think of is to watch out for Shadow Stalker. She can be a little...confrontational."

I scowled. Yeah, I really wasn't looking forwards to meeting that bitch. I wasn't confident I wouldn't punt her through the wall if she tried anything with me. The main problem was that my powers had actually had an affect on my psyche. Nothing overt, but I was now more in tune with my instincts, a state that only amplified when I fully transformed. That was how I could wield my sword and throw around my attacks like I'd been doing them for years. It sort of made sense since I was basically a Hollow, minus the whole eating Souls thing, and it came in rather handy in keeping me from feeling any guilt over slaughtering the Cultists. They had tried to kill me, so I responded by removing the threat. Permanently. It was also that mindset that made me weary of joining the Protectorate permanently. I wasn't entirely sure I could hold back enough to avoid killing someone if I ever met someone capable of hurting me. All of this together meant that, if Shadow Stalker tried her shtick with me, she'd end up finding out what a real predator looked like when pissed off.

The lift dinged and the doors opened, revealing the Ward HQ. It looked like the living room of a large University flat, a large, round room with a large TV on one wall with a few sofas in a circle, a couple of games consoles and a coffee table covered in wrappers, books and a few scattered games. A number of doors led off the area, although I had no idea what was through them. Sitting on the sofas were the Wards themselves, all in costume for some reason, although none of them were wearing their masks. As we entered, the teen heroes looked up and I found myself under the scrutiny of six superpowered teenagers. It...was actually rather underwhelming. Just by looking at them, I instinctively knew that the only threat to me here was Vista and that was only because she could potentially bend my attacks back at me. I quickly wrenched my mind away from strategizing how best to take down each individual member of the Wards (ranging from decapitation to complete obliteration vire Gran Rey Cero...huh, I didn't know I could do that...neat.) and refocused on the here and now.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce your newest teammate," said Miss Militia, "This is Alexander White."

"Um, hi," I said awkwardly.

How exactly where you supposed to greet a group of people your powers had just finished feeding you the best methods of tearing them into little pieces? I immediately realized my mistake in the 'weak' greeting as Shadow Stalker gave a quite scoff, barely audible.

"Great, another weakling," she muttered, although it was still clearly audible.

Miss Militia scowled and opened her mouth to berate the dark Ward, but before she could I lifted my hand to my face and summoned my mask. Before anyone could do more than blink, I'd vanished and reappeared in front of Shadow Stalker, close enough that her nose was practically touching my mask as I loomed over her. Shadow Stalkers eyes went wide and, frankly, I can't blame her. Even if I didn't have the oppressive Spiritual Pressure Ichigo did while Hollowfied, the mask was still incredibly intimidating, not helped in the slightest by the black and yellow eyes that glared out from the eye slits and I highly doubt the fact I just crossed the room in the blink of an eye helped matters.

" _Want to say that again girly?"_ I hissed.

"ALEXANDER!" shouted Miss Militia.

I glanced over my shoulder at the shocked looking Wards and angry Heroine, before taking a step away from Shadow Stalker and dispelling my mask.

"Sorry about that," I said, directing the apology to the rest of the Wards and Miss Militia, "I don't like being underestimated."

For a moment, there was silence, before Clockblocker spoke up.

"Aww, don't worry about it," he said, "Believe me, there are plenty of worse things you could have done if what Carlos told us about you is anything to go by."

He stood and held out his hand.

"Names Dennis," he said.

I eyed his hand.

"Your going to freeze me, aren't you?"

Dennis tried to look hurt, but a snort of laughter from Vista told me I was 100% correct.

"Looks like hes got you there Dennis," she said.

"But I…"

Vista ignored Dennis' stuttered protests and turned to me with a massive smile.

"Hi, I'm Missy," she said, "That was a cool trick with the mask. Is that your power?"

"Ehh, kind of," I said as I shook her hand, "The mask lets me tap into a small portion of my full power, without transforming."

"Transforming?" asked Kid Win as he came over to introduce himself.

Aegis snorted.

"Oh, you should see it," he said, "he could give Hookwolf a run for his money in sheer intimidation factor."

Shadow Stalker scoffed, apparently getting over her brief moment of fear towards me.

"This guy?" she asked, "What could he possibly do to scare you _oh fearless leader?"_

The rest of the Wards glowered at Shadow Stalker, but Aegis just smirked.

"Lets just say that the mask as nothing on the full thing," he said.

All eyes turned on me.

"What? You want to see it?"

Nods all around, although Shadow Stalker just scoffed. I could still see a glimmer of interest in her eyes though. I glanced around again, before shrugging.

"Alright, but I suggest you take a few steps back."

They did as I asked and I lifted my hand to my face, black and red energy gathering in my hand. It wasn't really necessarily necessary to do it like this, but I felt like showing off. I pulled my hand down, my mask appearing on my face, but the energy didn't dissipate. Instead, it surged out, wrapping around me and momentarily hiding me from view. Then, I took a step forwards. I heard a startled intake of breath as my now clawed foot emerged from the black cloud, followed by my horned head and the rest of my body. As I left the energy cloud, the last of it solidified and transformed into my black blade. I let out a deep, rattling breath that somehow also released a blast of steam from between my masks teeth.

I looked over at the Wards to find that they were all staring at me with wide eyes. I honestly can't blame them considering my showboating, but I couldn't help but shift awkwardly under their stares. While joining the Wards wasn't really what I wanted, that didn't change the fact that I'd be working with them for the next few years and I really didn't like the idea of my comrades being scared of me.

"That...is….AWESOME!" said Dennis suddenly, breaking the tension in an instant.

That seemed to be the cue for the Wards to snap out of it and start asking questions, ranging from my sword to the lengths of my powers. I answered them as best I could and we ended up sharing a laugh over the fact I was causing Glenn a minor coronary as he tried to figure out how to make me PR friendly and failing.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting and socializing with the Wards (well, most of them. Shadow Stalker bugged out as soon as she was able) and by the time I left, I was confident that I'd be able to make friends with most of my future teammates. Not Shadow Stalker though, but considering a good portion of me wanted to vaporize the bitch, thats not that surprising. Eventually, we broke apart and headed out for our nightly duties, whether that be a patrol or heading home, leaving me with little to do. Oh, I headed back to the small apartment the Protectorate had been nice enough to provide after I proved to be capable of taking care of myself, but I quickly got restless. It was something I'd found happening a lot lately, not helped in the least by the fact the amount of sleep I actually needed had plummeted to just an hour every night (not entirely sure where that ability had come from, but I think it had something to do with my regeneration), leaving me restless and with nothing to do with myself. Normally, I ended up just going out and wondering around the Boardwalk or sitting up binge watching Anime or playing games, but tonight I needed something different.

I needed to get out and run, just...do something, stretch my muscles and maybe fire off some attacks into the bay or something. I wasn't supposed to be going out in 'costume' yet, but its not like I planned to do anything. Besides, I was fast enough that, if I did stumble across something going on, I wouldn't be seen knocking the crook for six.

* * *

Two hours and three muggers knocked unconscious later saw me making my way across the rooftops of the Docks in full Breaker mode. I wasn't really patrolling, just letting my feet guide me and enjoying the feel of the wind blowing through my hair. Honestly, I'm not sure what I was doing, just...cruising I guess would be the best word for it. I stopped any crime I spotted, but I was more interested in trying to burn of some energy and frustration. A fight would work better, but I didn't feel like getting scolded by Piggott, so I couldn't really go looking for Lung or anything…

A flash of moonlight on metal was my only warning. I slammed the brakes on and jumped back, barely avoiding the tip of the sword that came out of thin air, arching down to slice my head in half. Despite that, I was still nicked by the blade, scratching a thin line across my mask where my nose should be. I landed on the roof of a warehouse and skidded to a stop, my claws cutting furrows into the surface as I did. I looked up and glared at my attacker, a figure in a white, hooded cloak that hid their form. In their hand, they held a sword in a reverse grip, hiding the blade in her. Something deep inside me warned me that, Hierro or no, that blade could cut me.

I narrowed my eyes at the Cape as I slowly stood, my body tense and ready for a fight. Looks like I'd be getting that fight after all.

"I don't know how you got here, but I won't allow you to harm anyone in this city," said the person in a soft, feminine voice that still managed to hold enough steel that Kieser would be jealous.

I frowned, but before I could ask what in the hell she was talking about, she vanished in a flicker of movement and a dull static sound. My eyes widened and I ducked, evading the swing that would have taken my head off. I spun around, lashing out with my claws as the womans blade flashed again. We jumped apart, leaving a few drops of blood and floating scraps of fabric where we had been locked. I scowled as I felt the cut in my side begin to seal up as the woman reached up and brushed the small trickle of blood from her cheek. My strike had managed to tear her hood slightly, revealing pale skin and the edge of a red marking on her cheek.

"Impressive," said the woman, "You're good for a beast."

I frowned under my mask.

" **Who are you calling a beast?"** I growled, **"Your the one who attacked me out of nowhere."**

The woman looked surprised.

"You can talk?" she muttered, "Interesting…"

I felt my eye twitch. I really hate being underestimated and this woman was managing to push my buttons like nobody's business. Suddenly, the idea of being scolded didn't seem that bad and my instincts were roaring to stop holding back anyway.

I took a step forwards and vanished in a Sonido, my claws flashing as I appeared behind her. The woman looked surprised at my speed, but still managed to turn and avoid my attack. She swung her sword, cutting a deep gash across my chest that immediately started healing as I continued my assault.

"Tch, instant regeneration," muttered the woman.

I didn't bother saying anything, instead I dropped and spun, aiming to take her legs out from under her. She jumped over the attack, putting her in the perfect position to aim a claw strike at her. At the same time, she swung her sword, once again aiming for my mask. I barely managed to avoid having my head split like a melon by grabbing her sword in my free hand as she deflected my strike with her free hand. Then, we both vanished again and reappeared on opposite sides of the roof.

"Hmm, it looks like I underestimate you," she said.

My eye twitched. Oh, thats it! I'm through playing nice, shes going down!

" **UNDERESTIMATE THIS!"** I snarled, lowering my head and charging a Cero between my horns.

I made sure to hold back enough that I wouldn't kill her and blow away half the docks, but it would certainly be enough to hurt her enough to take her out of the fight. The woman didn't move as the red orb grew between my horns, although I did notice she tensed slightly. I fired the attack, sending the massive beam of crimson energy shooting across the roof towards the swordswoman. I expected her to try and dodge, but instead she simply held up her hand...and stopped the Cero cold. My eyes went wide behind my mask, even more so when she opened her mouth and started...eating the Cero. Awww shit, this was gonna hurt…

Within seconds, the Cero had vanished completely down her throat and, for a moment, the air was still. Then, she opened her mouth and screamed, sending a pink blast straight back at me. I quickly summoned my sword and gathered red and black energy around it. I wasn't about to try and use another Cero to disperse that one.

I swung the energy covered sword, just in time to meet the Cero Doble, causing it to falter. I gritted my teeth. The force behind the attack was massive, forcing me back asmy claws dug into the roof. I growled and gritted my teeth harder, forcing more power into my blade. With a roar, I forced the blade through, slicing through the pink Cero and sending the two halves rocketing to either side of me, one shooting off into the night and the other rocketing out into the bay where it hit the water with a massive explosion. The force of the attack also served to blow away the tattered remains of the womans cloak, revealing her for the first time.

Despite her clear skill with a sword, she didn't look any older than me, although she was rather...gifted shall we say. She had long, wavy hair that was an unnatural shade of turquoise and light brown eyes. She wasn't wearing a mask, although with hair that colour, it kinda made it pointless to do so, although she did have what looked like a goat skull with sharp teeth on top of her head and a red line painted across her nose and cheeks. Her outfit looked rather slapdash, like she put it together herself, consisting of a pair of old jeans torn off to make a pair of short shorts and a shirt that looked a few sizes to small. She wasn't carrying a sheath, suggesting that maybe she had not intended to come out. Or she could do what I do and summoned her sword. Frankly, that was probably more likely.

I blinked a couple of times.

" **Errr, OK…"** I said, **"Why do you look like Nel?"**

That was a bit of a stupid thing to say considering Bleach didn't exist in this reality, but I was currently too confused to care. Seriously, WHAT THE FUCK!? I know my Breaker State was basically Zangetsu, but where in the hell did a Nel look alike with all her abilities intact come from?! Was she a Parahuman? Or was I in one of those stories where someone lived an entirely different life upon Triggering? Or, on the really crazy end of the spectrum, was this a Crossover? I somehow doubted that as I had never seen anything indicating that was the case.

Not-Nel didn't respond, instead she was staring at the blade in my hand with a look I REALLY didn't like. Then, she shifted her gaze to my mask, scanning my features as if looking for something. Then, she did something completely unexpected. She gave a blinding smile, dropped her sword and threw herself at me.

"ISTYGO!"

 **And heres the Nel version. Yeah, kinda different, right? This version would probably lean more towards comedy thanks to Nelyor's antics, even without those two morons who follow her around.**

 **Actually, my original plan for this involved them getting into a really heavy fight that included Lung trying to butt in and getting smacked across town by two annoyed Hollows and ending with Nelyor releasing her Zanpakuto before she forced Alex to pull out his own sword.**

 **I will not stop referring to her as Nelyor in this or any future ANs.**

 **Anyway, thats me done again, so don't forget to leave a review on the way out!**


	3. Chapter 3

Outsider Chronicles: Hollow Hero

I knew that getting reborn into a world like Worm could be dangerous, but I wasn't expecting to get kidnapped by a crazy cult dedicated to the Endbringers to be used as a sacrifice. True, I'm now strong enough that no one will ever be able to permanently hurt me again, but I still could have done without the oversized needle to the heart.

 **Since the Nel version of this story got such a good reception, I've decided to continue with it. Oh, and before I forget, I may be shifting a few events in the timeline. Enjoy!**

Chapter 3

I barely had time to react before a pair of arms closed around my neck and dragged me into a tight hug that made my bones creak worryingly, Brute rating or not, as the possibly-Nel rubbed her cheek against my mask and babbled something about missing me (or rather Ichigo) and how it felt like a lifetime. I was to busy trying to reboot my brain from the sudden switch from trying to kill me with a sword to trying to smother me to death and the outburst indicating that this wasn't just a case of interdimensional fuckery. Oh no, the woman squeezing the life out of me really was Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck...or she knew someone called Ichigo who happened to look exactly like me in my Breaker State. Not sure which is more unlikely. Plus, I was living proof reincarnation was a thing.

After a few moments, I got my brain back in gear and tried to push Nel off me. It didn't work. Holy shit, she was stronger than me! I haven't got any concrete data on my strength level, but I had spotted my file on Glenns desk which said that I was stronger than Glory Girl. Considering that during my power tests, I had idly lifted over a ton with one hand, I had no problem believing that. Hell, I didn't even realize how heavy the weights were until I saw the numbers on them! Suddenly, I was very glad that Nel hadn't come at me at full power.

Still, that wasn't really relevant now and I really didn't fancy getting choked to death by an Anime character.

" **Hey, whats the big idea!?"** I yelped, **"I'm not 'Istygo'!"**

"Huh?"

WHUMP!

"Your not?" asked Nel as she eyed me where she'd just dropped me.

" **No, I'm not,"** I said, **"My names...Hollow I guess."**

"Uh hu," said Nell, fixing me with a look that said she thought I was full of shit, "If your not Istygo, why do you have his Tensa Zangetsu?"

Welp, that about proved that she was definitely Nel.

" **I have no idea,"** I grumbled, **"All I know is that it came with my Breaker State."**

Nel blinked.

"Wait, so your a Cape?"

I fixed her with a look.

" **Aren't you?"**

Nel opened her mouth to respond, but before she could a massive explosion of fire from a few blocks away, followed by a roar of rage that was in no way Human cut her off. Before I could react, Nel took off, shooting in the direction of the blast, snatching up her Zanpakuto as she went. I cursed, grabbed my own sword and took off after her. Looks like I might end up fighting Lung after all.

* * *

We arrived to discover that, yes, Lung was the one responsible for the blast and he was apparently fighting the Undersiders. Grue was busy doing his best to distract him with his Darkness, Tattletale was desperately trying to shoot him with a pistol that might as well have been firing peas for all the damage it did, Bitchs dogs were trying to chew through Lungs scales and Regent was nowhere to be seen.

As we landed on a roof near the fighting, Lung decided that he was bored of being used as a chew toy and released another blast of fire with a roar, sending the mutated dogs flying. Whether it was through luck or planning, one of the mutated mutts collided with Tattletale, trapping the Thinker underneath its bulk, and another hit the wall above Grue, knocking a few bricks lose. One of the bricks collided with his helmet, knocking him to the ground. Apparently it also disrupted his concentration (not that I blame him. Taking a brick to the head would do that to anyone who wasn't a Brute) because Lung was finally able to disperse the darkness around his head with a roar of triumph. He looked around and sneered as his burning gaze fell on the still trapped Tattletale. He swung his arm and unleashed a blast of fire at the much younger Villain.

By this point, I was ready to step in. They may be Villains, but the Undersiders were still kids and I really didn't want to see them get incinerated by a rage-dragon. Before I could even think about moving however, Nel had already vanished and reappeared in front of Tattletale...where she dispersed the fire attack with a simple backhand.

The battlefield went utterly silent and still as everyone stared at the newcomer as she glared at Lung. I couldn't help but shiver, even if the glare wasn't directed my direction. It was the same glare she'd fixed Nnoitra with after he beat up Ichigo. Yeah, theres no way she'd be holding back in this fight.

"Disgraceful," she said in a voice so cold it would probably freeze the balls of a penguin, "Although I supposed I shouldn't be surprised."

Lung and the Undersiders looked rather taken aback, although I couldn't really blame them. To see such a young woman staring down someone like LUNG with nothing but a sword probably wasn't something that was normal, even for Brockton Bay. Then again, I suspect they also couldn't feel the sheer amount of power that was now buzzing just beneath the surface of Nel's body. Right now, she was in full on Espada mode and Lung was going to get his ass kicked.

"Who the fuck are you?" growled Lung, his voice slightly distorted by his transformation, although not quite to the point where it stopped being Human, "Actually, I don't care. DIE!"

He swung his claw, aiming to crush Nel. The green haired woman didn't flinch as she raised an arm...and caught the blow. The sheer force of the collision kicked up a blast of wind that blew Tattletale and the dog back and would have squashed the Thinker between a brick wall and a massive mutt had I not dropped down to catch them. I shoved the dog off with a grunt. It wasn't heavy (not to me at least) but it stunk.

" **Are you OK?"** I asked as I set Tattletale down against the wall.

The Thinker looked up and immediately recoiled at the sight of my horned mask looming over her.

" **Hnn, guess I should get used to that,"** I muttered as I sat back on my heels.

CRACK!

A loud sound of cracking bones and rending metal drew attention back to the 'fight', just in time to see that Nel had crushed Lungs hand.

"All this power and you waste it on causing suffering and death," said Nel quitely, her voice holding contempt and...pity.

Hoo boy, this won't end well. I was proven correct as Lung, apparently hearing the pity in Nel's tone, let out a roar and unleashed a wave of fire that covered Nel and probably did F all to her. I was proven right in that assumption when her sword flashed and Lungs arm went flying, followed by a kick that sent the Dragonman hertling down the street with a caved in rib cage. He hit the wall of the warehouse at the far end of the street, smashing through it and bringing the whole thing down on top of him.

"H-holy shit!" muttered Tattletale, eyes wide in complete and utter shock.

I wasn't much better. I mean, I knew intellectually that Nel would be incredibly strong, but to see her take down someone like Lung so easily…

Nel took a deep breath and flicked her sword to clean the blood off, before sheathing it in the sheath that had just appeared in her hand. Handy trick. With that done, she vanished, only to reappear next to us a moment later with an unconscious Grue and Bitch in hand. I'm not sure when the latter had been knocked out, but I had been more interested in keeping an eye on the giant Rage-dragon. Tattletale gasped and stumbled to her feet, staggering over as Nel lay the two other Undersiders down gently.

"Don't worry, they're not hurt," she said, smiling at the worried Thinker, "Although I suspect they'll have a raging headache when they wake up."

Tattletale gave a sigh of relief.

"Thank god," she muttered, "But what about…"

She was cut off by an explosion and a roar of fury as Lung erupted from his stone prison. Apparently he was now really mad and pretty far along with his transformation. I could see the beginnings of a tail and wings starting to form and his face had fully transformed as he fixed his burning glare on us.

"Ooor ed!" he snarled and launched himself forwards.

Tattletale looked ready to panic, but Nel just stood and walked forwards as if to meet him.

"Hollow, keep them safe," she said as she drew her sword.

"W-wait, you don't actually...no, you do," said Tattletale as her eyes went wide, "But how do…"

Then, the wind kicked up by the heat generated by Lung blew Nel's hair away from her back, revealing the three tattooed there. Tattletales eyes went even wider and her mouth dropped open, forming soundless words. However, I was much more interested in the fact I now couldn't move as a massive weight dropped down on my shoulders as Nel brought up her sword horizontally in front of her and put her hand on the blade. Oh...oh shit. This is going to be extremely loud.

By this point, Lung was nearly on us as Nel opened her mouth.

" **Declare…"**

Her blade turned pink and started releasing wispy smoke as the weight increased. I reached for my own power and pushed back, lessening the weight enough so I could move in front of the Undersiders and prepared to try and keep them from being completely crushed.

" **...Gamuza."**

BOOM!

I barely had time to crank up my power and summon my sword before the massive blast of pink Spirit Energy erupted and a wave of pure force slammed into me at the same time as a massive wave of Spiritual Pressure. I vaguely heard a thump behind me, but I was much more interested in preventing myself from being thrown backwards to look. I dug my claws and sword into the ground and gritted my teeth as I flared my own power, pushing back against Nel's.

Lung wasn't as lucky as to have someone who knew what was coming to help mitigate the force, but he was still strong and tough enough to keep from being blasted back. That said, it still stopped his charge.

Fortunately, the barrage of Spiritual Pressure didn't last long, although it certainly felt like it, and after a few seconds, the pink energy dissipated, leaving only a cloud of smoke and dust. Then, it was swept aside and Nelliel in her true form stepped forwards, fixing a shocked looking Lung with a glare that could have melted stone.

"I was hoping to not have to use this on my first night out," she said, "Especially not against an opponent like you. However, needs must and I cannot afford to waste anymore time on you."

She glanced back at us and her eyes widened.

"Especially not when I might accidentally kill one of the people I'm protecting," she said.

I raised an eyebrow and glanced back. Apparently, Tattletale had been the person I'd heard collapsing and...she really didn't look well. She was shaking, her eyes wide and staring with her pupils dilated and she was foaming at the mouth. I touched her forehead and found that she was sweating excessively, enough that my hand came away wet. I quickly checked on the other two Undersiders as best I could without unmasking them, but they seemed to be fine, other than their previous injuries.

"Hollow!"

" **YES MA'AM!"** I yelped.

"Take those three onto a rooftop and shelter the girl as best you can," said Nelliel, "This won't take long."

I quickly did as I was told. Lung didn't look like he'd be willing to wait around for much longer and he looked even bigger than he had been. I had barely dropped the Undersiders on the roof when Lung's patience ran out and he charged with a roar. Nelliel simply met the charge and thrust out with her lance. The tip slammed into Lung's shoulder, splintering scales and parting flesh like they weren't even there. There was a spurt of boiling blood and Lungs arm went flying (again) as Nelliel skidded to a stop at the far end of the street, her hooves carving furrows into the melting pavement. Lung spun around, breathing heavily as his arm started growing back and glaring at Nelliel, who just stared back impassively.

"Please don't try again," said Nelliel, "You can't beat me and I don't want to accidentally kill you."

That was the wrong thing to say as Lung let out a roar, sprouted a pair of wings and charged again. Nelliel sighed and lifted her lance.

"Well, I did warn you," she said, **"Lanzador Verde."**

She threw the weapon, sending it spinning towards Lung at incredible speed, gathering Spirit Energy around it as it flew. It caught Lung full in the chest and drilled straight through him, releasing all the energy it had gathered in one massive explosion. My eyes widened and I moved to try and deflect the blast wave, but I was way to late. However, before the impact could strike, something appeared in front of me, blocking my view with the tails of a black coat with diamonds around the hem.

The newcomer did something, just in time for the blast wave to hit, causing it to split around us. I still had to cover my face to protect my eyes from the wind and dust thrown up, but at least I wasn't turned into pate alongside the Undersiders, so that was something. After a few seconds, the wind died down and I was able to look up at the newcomer. The moment I did, my jaw dropped and I was suddenly very glad for my full face mask.

He was tall and thin, with messy, light blond hair, gray eyes and a slight stubble. He was wearing a dark long coat, the hem of which was what I'd seen with his arrival, a dark green shirt and pants underneath, wooden Geta that looked rather out of place considering he was visibly caucasian and a green and white striped bucket hat. In his hand was an elegant sword that was projecting the blood red shield that had blocked the explosion.

"Well, that was certainly excessive," said the man jovially, "Is everyone alright?"

"Yes boss," said a very deep voice from behind me, making me jump and spin around to see that a massive man with thick glasses and blue overalls had appeared out of thin air and was now checking on the Undersiders, "Mr Laborn and Miss Lindt are a bit banged up and it seems that Miss Wilborne has had a nasty reaction to all the Spiritual Pressure released, but they will all be fine by tomorrow."

"Good, take them home and have Noba collect Rachel's dogs," said the maybe-Urahara.

"Yes sir," said the possibly-Tessai as he gathered up the Undersiders and vanished into thin air.

Alright, now my confusion was reaching critical mass. I could just about buy Nel making an appearance and kicking the snot out of Lung, but Urahara and Tessai to?! And apparently they know the Undersiders and may or may not be invested in keeping them safe!? Seriously, what the FUCK IS GOING ON?!

I blinked as the perchance-Urahara waved his hand in front of my face.

"Helllo~, are you OK in there?" he asked.

" **Yes, I'm fine,"** I said, batting his hand away, **"But who exactly are you?"**

Perhaps-Urahara smiled and lifted his fan, snapping it open to reveal the words 'Urahara Shop' printed across the paper.

"Oh, I'm just a humble candy shop owner~," he said.

" **BULLSHIT!"**

"Oh, don't be like that not-Ichigo~," said conceivably-Urahara, making me growl, "I might be a Parahuman, but that doesn't mean I can't also be a humble shop owner!"

I growled, my fingers twitching as I tried to resist the urge to just blast him with a Getsuga. Or just try and choke the life out of him. Fortunately for the 'humble' shop owner, Nel chose that moment to appear on the roof in a Sonido with her sword freshly sealed. I glanced off the roof and saw that Lung was back in his Human form, splayed out on the floor and quite unconscious with a massive burn on his chest that didn't look like it was healing. The green haired girl glanced around, before her eyes landed on almost-certainly-Urahara and widened. He smiled behind his fan and gave a friendly wave.

"Hello Nel, its been a while," he said, "I see you've found a familiar looking friend~!"

My eye twitched. I have a feeling that being compared with Ichigo was going to get very annoying very quickly.

"Anyway, I'd like to thank you for stopping Lung from turning my employees to ash," continued feasibly-Urahara, "Finding good help around here is SO hard~."

" **ALRIGHT ALRIGHT, TIMEOUT!"** I yelled, **"What the hell is going on?! Who the hell are you? Theres no freakin way your just a shopkeeper!"**

"Well, maybe not," said perhaps-Urahara, "But I do run a shop! I also provide work for down-on-their luck teens with superpowers."

He reached into his coat and pulled out a business card.

"My card."

I slowly took it and read it, only to freeze up in complete and utter shock. According to this, he did own a shop/recrutement business, but his name wasn't Kisuke Urahara. It was Thomas Calvert.

 **Hehehe, I almost feel guilty for leaving it there, but oh well. Yeah, I originally planned for Coil to end up getting smacked down by Urahara and his group, but then I decided to go completely AU and turn Coil from Bond Villain to eccentric sweet shop owner who could probably solo Lung, Oni Lee and Bakuda, along with most of the E88 Capes if he so desired. Yes, this does mean that Coil won't be an antagonist, mainly because he doesn't exist.**

 **Yes, this does mean that there will be other Bleach characters making an appearance, but I'm limiting myself to characters who either died or whos fate is left open and never confirmed. Tessai is the exception since he just used Kido to find his dead boss and joined up with him again.**

 **I admit, I'm kinda tempted to turn Amy into Unohana, if only so I can flip the script and have her terrify the crap out of people instead of Glory Girl, but that would probably be a tad to far. I probably will have her make an appearance though. Possibly as Amy's mentor at the hospital...**

 **I'm probably going to get some flack for this...eh, its a crossover, I can do what I like!**

 **Right, and now I'm done. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!**


	4. Chapter 4

Outsider Chronicles: Hollow Hero

I knew that getting reborn into a world like Worm could be dangerous, but I wasn't expecting to get kidnapped by a crazy cult dedicated to the Endbringers to be used as a sacrifice. True, I'm now strong enough that no one will ever be able to permanently hurt me again, but I still could have done without the oversized needle to the heart.

 **And we're back. Nothing of interest or particularly witty to say here so, Enjoy!**

Chapter 4

Well...this wasn't quite what I was expecting. I was expecting my meeting with Coil to end with me blowing him up for kidnapping a little girl. Instead, he'd saved my ass from getting blown across the city, got me mad enough to want to stab him for being annoying and then given me a big role of vouchers for ten percent off at his shop. Even after watching Lung get his arse kicked by an Arrancar, I was still having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that Coil was less Bond villain and more Zelretch lite. I'm not sure which I'd have prefered considering I was probably going to end up drawn into his inevitable chaos causing plan.

"So, those kids worked for you?" asked Nel, "Why exactly were they fighting LUNG of all people?"

"Ah, yes, they do," said Calvert, "As for why they were fighting Lung...well, lets just say that he took offence to me taking out a few of his drug dens and storehouses around the neighbourhood."

" **And let me guess,"** I said, shaking off my shock, **"He caught your team hitting another of his places and flipped?"**

"Exactly~!" said Calvert with an entirely to jovial tone.

He ignored the two glares he received.

"So...what now?" asked Nel.

"Now we call the PRT to pick up Lung," said Calvert.

I groaned.

" **Ohh god, I am NOT looking forwards to that,"** I muttered.

"Why?" asked Nel.

"Because hes not supposed to be out picking fights until his 'official' debut," said Calvert.

I was about to ask how in the hell he know that when a small girl with blond hair in a pink dress suddenly appeared out of thin air.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we've spotted Armsmaster coming this way," said the girl, shooting a funny look my way.

"I see, thank you Ririn," said Calvert, "Have Rachels dogs been collected?"

"Of course," said Ririn.

"Excellent~!"

Calvert turned to Nel and I and bowed.

"So sorry to cut this short, but it appears that we're out of time," he said, "Please drop by the shop for some candy any time you like! Tata~!"

A red portal opened behind and sucked in Calvert and Ririn, leaving Nel and I stood on the roof alone.

" **Well...that was certainly interesting,"** I said, **"So, you knew that guy?"**

"Ehhh, sort of," said Nel, "Wait, did he say…"

She was interrupted by the loud rumble of a motorbike arriving and ran to the edge of the roof. A moment later, she let out a squeal and jumped of the roof and a loud exclamation of surprise followed. I hurried to the roofs edge and looked down, only to be forced to smother my laughter at the sight of Armsmaster trying to shove Nel of as she hugged him around the waist with a mile wide smile and babbling about honour and autographs. I couldn't see Armsmasters face under his helmet, although the set of his jaw made me think he had a complete WTF look. That thought was to much for my self control and I burst out laughing. Unfortunately, that had the effect of drawing Armsmasters attention to me and his expression changed from completely confused to annoyed. I sighed. Well, so much for sneaking away I guess…

I jumped down off the building and approached the older Hero, who was now ignoring Nel and glaring at me with thin lips.

" **Um, hi,"** I said.

"What are you doing here?" growled Armsmaster, "You were told not to come out in costume until your Debut. Not only that, but unauthorized solo patrols are strictly forbidden."

" **I was bored!"** I protested, **"Glenn's dragging his feet and its not like I planned to have a run in with Lung! I just wanted to go for a run!"**

"So you transformed and went across the rooftops?"

" **I've already done most of the city of foot,"** I grumbled, **"Besides, if I go to long without transforming, I get...itchy. Restless. Besides, I didn't fight Lung, she did."**

I pointed at Nel, who had finally let the older Hero go, although she still looked rather eager and was bouncing on her toes. Armsmaster gave one more scowl, before turning a skeptical eye on Nel.

"You took down Lung?" he asked, eyeing her tattered clothing and lack of mask.

"Yup," chirped Nel, "The big meany was beating up some kids, so I took him down!"

" **See all this?"** I said, indicating to the destroyed warehouse and scorched stretch of ground that had come from Nel's Lanzador Verde, **"That was mostly her."**

I'm pretty sure Armsasters eyebrows had just shot up to somewhere in the Stratosphere as he looked around.

"Hmm, is that so?" he muttered, before turning back to Nel, "Whats your name?"

"I'm Nelliel," said Nel.

"Alright Nelliel, have you put any thought into joining the Wards?" asked Armsmaster.

Nel's eyes went wide.

"Ohh, yes, I'd love to!" she said, "I was going to talk to my Dad about joining soon, but, well, things keep happening and I kept chickening out…"

I raised an eyebrow. Nel, chickening out of doing something? That sounded a bit out of character.

"Well, if you'd be willing to give me your address, we could send someone around tomorrow to help you discuss it with your Father," said Armsmaster, sounding rather pleased with himself.

Nel immediately perked up and nodded, quickly rattling off her address to the Hero.

"Alright then, I'll send someone to talk with you tomorrow," said Armsmaster.

"Thank you!" said Nel, "Um, I should go. Its a school night, sooo…"

Armsmaster nodded and Nel smiled, waved at him, gave me one last crushing hug and vanished with a Sonido.

"Mover as well," muttered Armsmaster, "Now then, I suggest you go home as well White. I suspect the Director will want to discuss this… exertion with you tomorrow."

I winced. I haven't actually met Director Piggot yet, mainly because she'd been way too busy with various things l that had been going on (and I suspect because she didn't want to deal with me if she didn't have to), but I really wasn't looking forwards to it. Oh well, a bitter, short tempered woman wouldn't be that hard to handle...right?

* * *

The next day saw me arriving at the PRT HQ and was immediately met by a disapproving looking Miss Militia, who proceed to order me the riot act before leading me through the halls for a meeting with the Director. However, she didn't take me to Piggots office like I was expecting.

"Um, where are we going?" I asked as Miss Militia pressed a button at the bottom of the lift controls, indicating that it was something below the Ward HQ.

"The Director wants to see what your really capable of," was my only response.

"O...K," I said.

It took a minute for the Tinkertech lift to reach its destination and the doors to open to reveal...a massive training ground with a huge number of rocks, dead looking trees, a ceiling painted to look like the sky and what looked like a hot spring tucked away in one corner. Stood on top of a rock near the entrance doing warm up stretches was a woman with long, raven hair that reached her waist, despite being up in a ponytail and dark skin, wearing black stretch pants, lightweight shoes, and an orange top with white straps on the shoulders. As Miss Militia and I entered, she turned to reveal that her eyes were light hazel, almost yellow.

"Hey Miss M," she said, "And I take it this is our latest troublemaker?"

"Thats right Director Piggot," said Miss Militia, her eye twitching slightly at the nickname.

"Pfft, I've told you to quick being so damn formal all the time," said Piggot, "We've worked together for long enough that you can call me Emily."

I took a deep breath and resisted the urge to rub my temples. Right, so Piggot was Yoruichi. Fair enough. Well, at least I know she won't be a total bitch! On the there hand, I really don't want to end up on the receiving hand of any of her 'pranks'.

"So, you're Alexander White, eh?" said Piggot as she hopped off her rock and eyed me up and down, "Not bad, although you could do with putting on a little muscle. I'm Emily Piggot, director of the PRT here in Brockton Bay. I also oversee the Wards and Protectorate, although I prefer to leave that up to people who actually know the teams."

"Um, nice to meet you Ma'am," I said.

"Heh, well, aren't you polite," said Piggot with a grin, "No need to be so formal though."

She sobered.

"That said, we aren't here for a friendly chat. I understand you went against orders last night?"

"Ehhh, not really," I said, "I was told not to go out on patrol until I officially became a Ward. I might have gone out in…'costume' last night, but I didn't actually intend to do anything. I just get antsy if I stay put for to long and I don't need that much sleep, so I decided to go for a run. Normally, I'd just go up to the boardwalk or something, but I felt like doing something a bit different."

I would never even think of trying an excuse like that with Piggot, but I was willing to bet good money that this one didn't give a rats ass that I snuck out. Piggot stared at me for a moment, before she snorted.

"Heh, well, I can't say you don't have balls," she said, "Your not really wrong though and I can understand your frustrations."

"Director!" protested Miss Militia.

"Calm down Miss M," said Piggot, "There was no harm done. Alex is unhurt and, if the reports are accurate, he didn't actually fight Lung, he just helped keep the kids he was attacking safe. Besides, hes a teenager."

She grinned. I didn't like that grin.

"That said, you do need to understand that we give orders for a reason," she said, "With that in mind, you will be punished. And your punishment will be…"

I instictivly ducked as her foot shot through the air where my head had been.

"...is to be my sparring partner this morning. No powers allowed, just your own strength and skill. Show me what you can do!"

I paled. Suddenly, the bitchy Piggot seemed like a much better alternative than the beat down I was about to receive.

* * *

I think it goes without saying, but I got my ass kicked. Most of my 'skill' in combat came with the raw instinct my powers came with, so without them, I was limited to my own meagre skill and the slightly enhanced reflexes and strength I had in my normal state. Piggot on the other hand, was a well trained Soldier who somehow also had all the strength, speed and skill of one of the greatest commanders the Stealth Force has ever known. Also, I think it goes without saying, but she was FAST! I'm pretty sure she wasn't using Flash Step, but, honestly, that doesn't matter. I don't even think she was going at full speed, but she still managed to beat me repeatedly without me even being able to touch her.

"Well, that was mildly disappointing," said Piggot as she eyed me where I was splayed out on the floor, gasping for breath.

"Fuck...you," I gasped without thinking.

Piggot just raised an eyebrow, before bending down, picking me up and flinging me across the room to land in one of the hot spring pools with a splash. I immediately shot out with a yelp of pain and newly lobster red skin. I glowered at the Goddess of Flash as she roared with laughter at my misfortune, but kept my mouth shut. I didn't want another dip in the hot water after all, even if it did heal injuries and wash away fatigue.

A loud clearing of a throat drew attention away from turning me into well tenderize meat and to the large form of Glenn who had just arrived.

"You wanted to talk to me Director?" he said.

"Yes, I want to know why you seem to be dragging your feet with Mr White here," she said.

Glenn huffed.

"Hes a six foot tall, white, horned monster," deadpanned Glenn, "What am I supposed to do with that?"

"Oi, I'm sitting right here!" I protested.

I was ignored.

"You managed with Shadow Stalker and shes an unrepentant problem child," said Piggot.

"True, but I can hide that by having her keep her mouth shut," said Glenn, "Its a tad more difficult with Breakers that look so scary."

"I'm still sitting here," I muttered.

"In that case, why not try something different?" said Piggot, "Instead of trying to make him less scary and intimidating, make that a part of his image.

"How so?"

Piggot smiled.

"There are plenty of examples in cultures around the world of scary images being used as protection against evil," she said, "Use something like that. The idea of a strong, solid protector who scares away the darkness would work nicely, yes?"

Glenn looked thoughtful as he nodded slowly.

"Yes, I think I can work with that," he said, "I'll need a little more time, but...yes, I can do it."

He turned to me.

"You don't really need a costume thanks to your Breaker form, but I'll probably give you something, just because it looks better than you being 'naked'," he said, "Have you considered any names yet?"

"A couple," I said, "I toyed with using White, but thats my surname and it might create some unwanted association with the E88. I also considered Hollow and Zangetsu."

Oh, don't give me that look. I look like him anyway, might as well try and use the name. Piggot shot me a look that contained no small amount of curiosity and made me wish I hadn't mentioned that.

"Hmm, Zangetsu is Japaneses for Slaying moon, isn't it?" muttered Glenn, "Not exactly PR friendly, but something about it...yes, its oddly fitting for the image we're going for...yes, I think that will work."

He shook his head and nodded to me and Piggot.

"Director, Mr White, if you'll excuse me," he said and hurried away.

"That ought to light a fire under him," said Piggot, "Don't worry kid, we'll have you on the field in no time. Until then though, you really need to improve your skills."

She smiled at me and I gulped.

 **And done. Well, that was certainly interesting. I admit, I didn't originally plan for Piggot to be Yoruichi, but then I decided, fuck it, if Coil's Urahara, why not make the other survivor his best friend? Yes, they are still in contact, even if Calvert isnt exactly the PRT's favorite guy due to...reasons that will be revealed later, but since when has that stopped Yoruichi?**

 **Incidentally, no one knows that shes technically a Parahuman, although she does occasionally help out with Calverts antics.**

 **Now, you might be wondering why Nelyor was so quick to jump to join the Wards, but the reasons are quite simple. While Taylor is more present than her fellow reincarnation Triggers (and you'll see what I mean by that next time), shes still been affected by Nel and Nel understands that you can do a LOT more with allies on your side. Besides, she really doesnt have any reason to seeing as she has no idea that Sophia is Shadow Stalker. That said, once she finds out, she won't be storming off in a huff. Despite how childish she can act, Nel is a former Espada and she put up with Nnoitra for god knows how long. Sophia Hess will be a synch compared with that. Plus, its hard to call someone who soloed Lung without trouble weak.**

 **Ririn is a Mod Soul created for the Bount arc who appeared a few more times in various Fillers or slightly altered scenes. In my opinion, she and her friends, Noba and Kurodo are some of the best parts of the Fillers, so they'll be making an appearance as Calverts shop assistants/Gophers for when the Undersiders are unavailable.**

 **Yes, Alex's Cape name will be Zangetsu. No I will not change my mind.**

 **And with that, I'm done. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out! Good god, I'm tired...**


	5. Chapter 5

Outsider Chronicles: Hollow Hero

I knew that getting reborn into a world like Worm could be dangerous, but I wasn't expecting to get kidnapped by a crazy cult dedicated to the Endbringers to be used as a sacrifice. True, I'm now strong enough that no one will ever be able to permanently hurt me again, but I still could have done without the oversized needle to the heart.

 **And we're back. Nothing of interest or particularly witty to say here so, Enjoy!**

Chapter 5

When Taylor Hebert woke up on the day after her big debut, she felt to different emotions. The first was elation. She had beaten LUNG of all people without taking so much as a single hit! She knew of course that Nel had fought and defeated enemies much stronger and more terrifying than Brocktons Dragon (that monster Yammy during her attempt to recruit him for Aizen came to mind), but to actually be there and be the one to swing Gamuza...the feeling was nothing short of euphoric.

The other emotion was complete and utter humiliation over how she had acted towards Armsmaster and Hollow (ISTYGO! Shreaked Nel in her head). She had no idea of the actual mechanics of the fusion between Nelliel tu Odelschwanck and Taylor Hebert, but she did know that Nels personality was more to the fore when she was in her 'Breaker' state that allowed her to use her Arrancar abilities. That meant that, more often than not, when she turned back to Taylor afterwards, her first instinct was to find a hole to crawl into out of embarrassment. While it was true that Nel was everything she ever wanted to be (strong, confident and ridiculously gorgeous), her childish attitude still managed to make her utterly embarrassed after the fact. On the other hand, Nel's childish side was exactly like Taylor used to be as a kid before her Mum died.

Still, embarrassment aside, she couldn't afford to stay in bed all day. Armsmaster had said he'd try and get someone sent over to talk to her and her Dad about joining the Wards, but she didn't want a stranger telling her Dad about her powers. It was actually kind of ironic that her powers had given her the confidence to tell him about the bullying and Emma, yet she still didn't have the guts to just come out and tell him about them. Well, there would be no more procrastinating damn it! Today was the day!

Taylor rolled out of bed and started getting dressed, inwardly reverling about the fact that she finally needed to wear a bra...before mentally cursing as she realized she'd outgrown them...again. Ever since her powers had come through, she'd been undergoing a growth spurt that was moving her closer and closer to resembling Nel, although fortunately her hair hadn't started changing colour. Giving it up for now, she threw on a t-shirt and some jeans and headed for the stairs and breakfast.

She padded into the kitchen to find a plate of bacon and eggs and a cup of tea already waiting for her, as it had been since she'd got home from the hospital. She glanced out the window and, sure enough, there was her Dad, sat on the small porch with a cup of tea in his hand as he watched the birds peck at the offerings laid out on the bird table he'd purchased with a slight smile on his lips.

She wasn't the only one who'd changed since the...incident. Danny had also changed a great deal, going from a man still suffering over the death of his beloved wife, often at the cost of his Daughter, to a doting father who was willing to do anything to help said child. Oh, he was still hurting, anyone could see that, but he had pushed it back and was now better for it. Hell, he'd even managed to find more work than usual for the Dockworkers. Taylor wasn't entirely sure what had caused the change, whether it was her near death or something else (probably her near death), but she was secretly glad for it. She would happily go through it all gain, even without gaining any powers, if it meant having her Dad back again...well, maybe that was a bit much.

Taylor quickly ate her breakfast, before grabbing her tea and joining her Father on the porch. As she left the house, Danny looked up and smiled at her.

"Good morning Taylor," he said, "Do you want to join me?"

He patted the deck beside him. Taylor hesitated for a moment, before sitting down beside him. For a moment, they sat in silence, before Danny spoke up.

"You know you can tell me anything thats bothering, don't you?" he asked.

Taylor shot him a startled look, but he was still staring at the bird feeder, an unreadable smile on his face. Did he…? No, he couldn't possibly know. If he did, he'd have stopped her from going out...right?

"I know," she said instead of asking the blaring question that was floating through her mind.

Silence fell again as Taylor shifted uncomfortably. God, even with a deadline, this was still so damn hard!

"Um, Dad, I'm...um…" she started, before deciding to just go with it, "DadImacape!"

She let out an explosive breath. Well, that was one thing off her mind, even if he probably haven't heard a word…

"I know."

Taylor blinked.

"Huh?"

"I also know that you snuck out last night," said Danny, ignoring his Daughters look of utter confusion, "Which was more than a little reckless, although I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."

"I...bu...wha...why didn't you say anything?!" spluttered Taylor.

Danny tilted his head to look at his Daughter through the corner of his eye.

"And what would saying anything have done?" he asked, "I knew you'd come to me eventually and confronting you about it would have just made you clam up. As for sneaking out, well, I suppose I could have stepped in and stopped you, but I didn't see the need. You are strong Taylor, I can see that, and you have a good heart. You wouldn't be able to keep from helping people even if you wanted to."

"E-even if I said I fought Lung last night?" said Taylor in a small voice.

Danny lifted one eyebrow and fixed Taylor with a flat look.

"Now that was dangerous," he said, "However, I trust you. I know you wouldn't pick a fight you couldn't win, or at least escape from if things got to dangerous."

He drained his tea and stood.

"Come on Taylor, we should get ready," he said, "I dare say the PRT representative will be here soon."

He went inside, leaving Taylor to gape after him. What the fuck had just happened?!

* * *

An hour later saw the Father Daughter duo in the living room as Taylor finished telling Danny about her adventures the night before. He looked slightly intrigued at the mention of Hollow and what he could do, but didn't say anything else.

"Well, it certainly sounds like you had an interesting night," said Danny, "But I really hope you don't plan to have more."

"Not if I join the Wards," said Taylor, "Besides, its not like I planned to fight Lung!"

Danny inclined his head, before he paused and tilted his head up.

"Huh…" he said.

"What?" asked Taylor.

"Nothing, its just…" he said, before he was cut off my the doorbell ringing.

Danny stood and moved to answer it with Taylor on his heels. The door opened to reveal a dark skinned woman with black hair in tight, black pants and an orange shirt and…

Taylor ruthlessly crushed her Nel side as it squeed loudly at the sight of Miss Militia on her doorstep. It wouldn't do to make a bad first impression after all. She glanced over at her dad, only to see that he and the woman in orange seemed to be engaged in a staring match.

"Well, this is unexpected," said the woman at length with a rather catty grin, "Its been a while…?"

"Danny," said Danny, "And it has indeed…?"

"Emily," said the woman, "I had a feeling that Kisuke and I couldn't be the only ones."

Danny's eyebrows shot up.

"Mr Urahara's here?" he asked, "Good god, thats…"

He shook his head.

"We can catch up over tea later," he said, "For now, you're here to talk to Taylor, yes?"

"Of course," said Emily and turned to Taylor and her stance changed to one belonging to a government official, "Good morning Miss Hebert, I'm Emily Piggot, the director of the PRT here in Brockton Bay. Normally, I wouldn't be making house calls, but the pile of paperwork currently on my desk is beginning to look like the cliffs at Dover, so I kinda want a break."

Taylor had to stifle a snort at that as Miss Militia gave a long suffering sigh. She was a little surprised that the Director had come herself (and for such flimsy reasons at that), but at least she wasn't a stick-up-the-ass like Tosan. Although, she did look oddly familiar…

"I'm sure my companion here needs no introduction if the look on your face is anything to go by," said Director Piggot.

"U-um, no," said Taylor, wincing at her stutter and wishing she could call on some more of Nel's confidence without her hair changing colour or glomping the Cape, "Its, um, nice to meet you…"

Fortunately, her Dad chose that moment to step in.

"Well, its a pleasure to meet you two," he said with a soft smile, "I'm Danny Hebert and this is my Daughter, Taylor. Please, come in."

Danny led the way into the living room where Miss Militia pulled out a thick looking file of paperwork and Danny offered everyone refreshments before they got down to business.

* * *

The conversation that followed was pretty mind numbing. It was mostly about the rules and regulations of the Wards, a talk about the Unwritten Rules that Capes were supposed to follow if they didn't want to get splattered by everyone and their dog and the big juicy paycheck. Well, juicy for a 15 year old at least. They also discussed a transfer to Arcadia, something Taylor jumped on with glee. She'd been doing homeschooling since two weeks the 'incident' when it became clear that Winslow were going to do fuck all about the Bitches, but she missed going to school. Plus, she could finally try and make some friends again! With that one, it was just a matter of signing the paperwork (in triplicate of course).

"Right, now thats done, how would you like to meet the Wards?" asked Miss Militia as she finished packing up the paperwork.

Taylor blinked. She hadn't been expecting that.

"Um, now?" she asked, "Isn't it a school day?"

"The Wards have the afternoon off," said Miss Militia, "So, do you want to come?"

"I'd love to!" gasped Taylor, some of Nel's enthusiasm leaking through, "Is that alright Dad?"

"Sure, its fine," said Danny with a soft simile, "You go have fun."

Taylor whooped and gave her Dad a quick hug, before following the two PRT agents out of the house and into the car they'd arrived in. The trip to the PRT HQ was spent asking questions about the various Wards and finding out that she apparently wouldn't be the only new kid in the Wards. Apparently there was another new recruit who'd decided to go by Zangetsu who'd be making his official Debut at the same time as hers. It didn't take much for Taylor to realize that Zangetsu was probably Hollow since that was the name of the orange haired kid from Nel's memory's sword.

* * *

Since it was the middle of the day, the traffic was light and it didn't take long to reach the PRT HQ. Once they did, two burly fellows in black suits met them at the door and escorted a pouting Piggot away.

"Thats the only way to get the Director to do her paperwork," said Miss Militia when asked, "Shes excellent at her job, but getting her to fill out reports...well, lets just say that its easier to pry Armsmaster away from his lab."

Taylor stifled a snort at the look of long suffering annoyance on the older heroines face. It looked like she was the one who had the unenviable task of babysitting the moody Director. Miss Militia shot her an annoyed look as she led her to the lift and hit the call button. It didn't take long to arrive and they embarked and headed down. A few seconds later, the door opened again and Miss Militia led the way down a short hallway and hit a button on the wall that activated a green light on the door. Once the light had shut off, she let the scanner attached to the door scan her eye and, a moment later, the door opened.

Taylor followed the Patriotic Hero into the room where a group of five teenagers were sat around, looking as if they were just hanging out. Clockblocker and Visa were near the TV with controllers in hand, Gallant was putting away his phone, Aegis was sat at a table doing what looked like homework and the last teen, who she didn't recognize, was splayed out on the couch with his face buried in a cushion.

"Hey guys," said Miss Militia, "Good news. It looks like Zangetsu won't be your only new comrade. This is…"

"Nelliel, but you can call me Taylor!" said Taylor with a smile.

A low groan from the sofa drew her eyes to the teen as he lifted his head, revealing the black and white, skull-like mask Hollow had worn. Well, that pretty much confirmed that.

"Hey Nel, nice to see you again," he mumbled, before letting his head fall back to the cushion.

"Um, is he alright?" asked Taylor.

"Hes fine, he just went through the Piggot Test," said Vista as she stepped across the room and held out her hand, "Hi, I'm Missy. It'll be good to not be the only girl on the team!"

"Shadow Stalker," said Aegis.

"Bitches don't count," said Vista, ignoring Miss Militia's disapproving look.

"Um, thanks, I think," said Taylor, shaking the younger girls hand, "Piggot test?"

"Its kind of a right of passage around here to get the snot beaten out of you by the Boss at least once," said Clockblocker, "She's an awesome boss and a ton of fun, but she expects nothing but the best from us. When we lose a fight, she takes us down to the Training Floor and proceeds to make sure we know how to fight. Usually by beating us to a pulp then throwing us in those freaky healing hot springs."

"Training ground?"

"I'll show you later," said Clockblocker, "I'm Dennis by the way."

The other Wards introduced themselves, although Kid Win was currently neck deep in Tinkering and Shadow Stalker was still at school due to catch up lessons. Guess its hard to keep her grade up when she couldn't steal Taylors work. The last person to introduce himself was Zangetsu, or Alex. He was a tall boy, with spiky, raven black hair and aqua coloured eyes, once he had taken of his mask.

She had just released the boys hand when the door opened again and a familiar voice made her freeze.

"Oh great, not another one."

Taylor slowly turned to see Shadow Stalker stood in the doorway with her mask off. At the sight of her face, Shadow Stal...no, Sophia Hess also froze, her eyes widened in disbelief and anger.

"Hebert?" She hissed, "What the fuck is a weakling like you doing here?"

 **And that'll do. Well, that was certainly an interesting look into Taylor's mind. Next time we'll be back with Alex for the showdown between an Espada used to dealing with the likes of Nnoitra and Shadow Stalker. It'll be a slaughter.**

 **Just to be clear, Taylor doesn't have a split personality. Its more like Hysteria mode from Hidan no Aria in that, when she transforms into Nel, her personality changes. Oh, and if your wondering why Nel didn't take over completely, it has to do with a whole host of things. Basically, a Reincarnation Trigger can go a few ways, from complete consumption of the 'new' person by the old ones memories to a fusion of the two. With Taylor, the latter happened. With Piggot and Calvert, they were both dieing and had basically given up all hope, so they didn't really put up much of a fight. Taylor still had some fight left, so they fused instead. Is it clear I'm basically making this up as I go yet?**

 **Yes, Danny's also Triggered. Now the only question is, who is he? Its clearly someone Urahara and Yoruichi knew well, but not someone Nel knew. Then again, because of how Taylor and Nel fused, she doesn't quite have all her memory's, hence why she didn't recognize Urahara and Yoruichi. Lets see if anyone gets it.**

 **And with that, its time for me to sign off. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!**


	6. Chapter 6

Outsider Chronicles: Hollow Hero

I knew that getting reborn into a world like Worm could be dangerous, but I wasn't expecting to get kidnapped by a crazy cult dedicated to the Endbringers to be used as a sacrifice. True, I'm now strong enough that no one will ever be able to permanently hurt me again, but I still could have done without the oversized needle to the heart.

 **And we're back. Nothing of interest or particularly witty to say here so, Enjoy!**

Chapter 6

When Shadow Stalker walked in, my first thought was, this ought to be good. My second was that it could also get very, VERY messy if Taylor decided to flip out. Fortunately, other than a slight flare of her Spiritual Pressure that was quickly tramped down, Taylor remained calm and didn't punch a hole through Sophia's chest.

"Sophia, thats no way to talk to a teammate," said Miss Militia, although her tone made it clear that she didn't expect to be listened to.

Sophia's eyebrows shot up as she eyed Taylor up and down.

"This weakling?" she scoffed, "No way, not a chance. Theres no way she could ever be a Cape."

Taylor raised an eyebrow, before she suddenly exploded in a puff of pink smoke, much to the surprise of everyone present if the startaled yelps were anything to go by. A few seconds later, the smoke cleared to reveal Taylor's Nelliel form. She was a few inches taller and her curves were even larger, revealing the reason why she had been wearing baggy clothes. The pink smoke quickly surged towards her hand where it formed into her Zanpakuto.

Sophia stumbled back at the sudden transformation, although I wasn't sure whether it was surprised or getting a face full of smoke that did it.

"No…" whispered Sophia, staring at Nelliel with wide eyes, "No, thats not possible! Theres no way that a worthless worm like you could be a Cape! Your nothing! Just weak, pathetic pray!"

Her wide eyes shifted into a scowl as she shouted at Nelliel and she ended her tirade by taking a swing at the green haired girl, completely ignoring everyone else in the room.

Nelliel tilted her head slightly, letting the blow fly past. Sophia looked surprised, before the surprise was once again replaced with boiling fury and she took another swing. Then another and another until she was punching at the taller girl as fast as she could as Nelliel simply avoided or deflected every single blow. Miss Militia looked like she wanted to interfere, but I quickly stepped in front of her with a Sonido.

"Sorry boss, but I really don't think you want to get involved in this," I said.

Miss Militia raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't say anything. Probably because at that moment, Nelliel decided to quit playing with her food and caught one Sophia's fists in her free hand, pulling her off balance and kicking her feet out from under her. Sophia hit the ground, hard, and Nelliel planted the butt of her sword on her 'opponent's' chest to stop her from trying to get up.

"You know, I once knew someone like you," said Nelliel in a soft voice, "He thought I was weak because I prefer not to fight. Despite that, I beat him every single time we fought. He thought he was a warrior, but he was really nothing more than a child, screaming against the injustice of the world. He...fought and fought and hurt as many people as he could to try and prove his strength, but again and again, he only proved that he was too weak to pull himself out of his own despair at use his strength for others."

"Fuck you!" spat Sophia, "Strengths the only thing that matters in this world! The strong flourish and the weak die in the mud!"

Nelliel raised an eyebrow.

"So it was strength that allowed you to torture an innocent girl?" she asked cooly, "Its strength that allows you to use your powers to hurt those without them? Thats not strength Sophia, thats weakness pretending to be strength."

Sophia snarled and tried to get up, but Nelliel just applied pressure with her sword and kept her down.

"Whats this about torturing someone?" asked Miss Militia, her voice carefully controlled.

Nelliel turned her head to eye the Patriotic Heroine.

"Miss Militia, did Winslow inform you of the event that happened just after the holiday?" she asked.

Miss Militia blinked.

"No, not that I'm aware of," she said, "Why?"

"Because the event in question resulted in a student being hospitalized," said Nelliel, ignoring Sophia's attempts to get loose or speak up as she simply applied more force with her sword, "A girl was shoved into a locker full of biohazardous waste and left to stew for hours until she was found by a janitor. The victim named three girls as the most likely culprits, one of whom was Sophia Hess. The school made a token promise to look into the issue, but absolutely nothing was done, just like every other time the girl complained about being bullied by Hess and her 'friends'."

Miss Militia's expression turned thunderous.

"I see," she growled, "Would you mind allowing Miss Hess up?"

Nelliel stared at the older Heroine for a moment, before she shrugged and lifted her sword away. Sophia was instantly on her feet, but before she could attack or try to run, Miss Militia clapped a hand on her shoulder and the other over her face. I'm not sure what happened next, but Sophia went rigid and then collapsed in a heap.

"I will be looking into this matter," said Miss Militia as she hefted Sophia over one shoulder, "Until I find out more, Miss Hess will be placed in confinement. Thank you for drawing this to my attention Taylor."

Taylor grinned, her serious demeanor vanishing like mist before the dawn.

"No problem, always happy to help!" she said.

Miss Militia left the room and Nelliel turned to us with a massive grin.

"Sorry about that," she said, "I just had to deal with some...issues."

Missy was the first to shake of the utter shock brought on by the unexpected verbal smackdown and emotional whiplash.

"Sorry?" she asked, "Taylor, that was freaking amazing! You have no idea how long I've been waiting for someone to give Sophia the smackdown she deserves!"

"Don't you think thats a bit harsh?" asked Gallant.

The look Missy gave him made him flinch.

"Nah, shes just saying what we're all thinking," said Dennis, "Come on, admit it!"

"Fine, I agree," grumbled Dean.

"As much as I'd prefer it wasn't needed, I have to agree," said Aiges, "She was a horrible teammate.

"I've known her for about a day and I already despise her," I said, "Nice to know I won't have to count on her to watch my back now!"

Taylor beamed at the praise. Yeah, this was clearly the Nelliel I'd encountered last night. Wonder if this manifests as a split personality or something? I quickly shrugged off that thought. I wasn't about to question a girl with all the powers of an Arrancar.

* * *

The next two hours were spent hanging out and having fun like the teenagers we were. We chatted about nonsense, complained about parents, teachers, homework and bosses, played some games and Vista and Nelliel had a great time bonding as the adorable and smoking hot members of the team. Part way through the day, Chris arrived and, after crowing to the heavens at the removal of Shadow Stalker, proceeded to make a complete ass of himself trying to impress Nelliel. At the end of those two hours, Taylor had firmly cemented herself as a member of the team in both Nelliel and Taylor form. Our time came to an end when Miss Militia reentered the room, looking rather smug.

"Taylor, I'd like to thank you for bringing Shadow Stalkers...transgressions to my attention," she said, "She and her Handler will be dealt with and we've reported Winslow to the School Board."

"Thank you Ma'am," said Taylor, now back in her normal form.

Miss Militia nodded.

"I'd also like to request that you come down tomorrow for a meeting with Glenn Chambers, our head of PR," said Miss Militia, "I don't think he'll have as hard a time with you as he did with Zangetsu, so it shouldn't take more than a day."

Everyone winced at the mention of Glenn.

"We appreciate your sacrifice," said Clockblocker and I at the same time.

"Oh god, there are two of them!" groaned Kid Win as Vista smacked us both upside the head from the other side of the room.

* * *

Three days later saw Taylor an I stood backstage in the PRT HQ press conference room, waiting to be called up. It was the day of our debut since, as Miss Militia had predicted, it hadn't take Glenn long to work with Taylor, even with her skull-like mask and sword (he had been miffed when he'd found out it was necessary for her to use her strongest powers). My official costume was basically just a pair of baggy pants that resembled Hakama, while Taylor was wearing an almost exact copy of the uniform Nel had worn during her time with Aizen. I wonder if maybe she had something to do with that...or maybe it had been Piggot. I wouldn't have put it past her.

I let out a huff and shifted as I felt nervousness curl in my gut. I'd never been good at public speaking, although to be fair, I had been instructed to keep my gob shut for this. The eere reverberations caused by my mask meant that Glenn had decided to make me a silent sentinel, similar to what he'd tried with Shadow Stalker.

"Are you nervous?" asked Nelliel?"

" **A little,"** I said, **"I'll be fine though."**

"Thats good," said Nelliel with a smile, before she tilted her head on one side, "Sounds like its nearly time to go."

She shut the book she was reading and stood, picking up her sword and sliding it into the belt loop made specifically for it. I took another deep breath and stood, focusing on the voice of Piggot that was leaking through the stage curtains.

"...and thus, it gives me great pleasure to introduce two new Wards!"

That was our cue and we both vanished with the dull thump of a Sonido and appeared on the stage next to Piggot. Our sudden appearance drew startled gasps from the gathered journalists, even more so when I looked up and they saw my horned, fanged and yellow eyed mask.

"These are Zangetsu and Nelliel," said Piggot, pointing at us each in turn, "Please welcome them and wish them luck on their future endeavors. We will now answer any questions you may have."

And like that, we were buried under an avalanche, ranging from what our powers were to why Nelliel wasn't wearing a mask to if we were related in some way after one smart cookie noticed the similarities between our masks. The questions were answered or deflected with some seriously scary skill between Piggot and Nelliel while I kept my mouth firmly shut, only awnering one question that was directed directly at me. I think my eere voice might have put the others off asking any more.

* * *

I had never once been more grateful for my regeneration (even when I had lost an arm during the 'fight' with the Cult) after an hour of standing on stage doing my best to look like a scary marble statue. As it was, instead of aching feet and legs, I was perfectly fine while Taylor was splayed out over the sofa in the Wards HQ and glaring at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Stupid regenerators."

 **Bit of a weak ending there, but I'm running out of things to say without it sounding forced. Still, I didn't end this chapter on a cliffhanger for once! That said, I'd like to do a PHO chapter next, but they're a pain in the arse to write. Any advice from my fellow fans/writers of Worm fics?**

 **So, Sophia got schooled. Hard. Also, apparently Miss Militia has some eserteric skills she maybe shouldn't have. Did I mention that Shards affect the Soul yet? Cus they do. And we all know what happens when a Soul is placed under pressure.**

 **Just in case your wondering, Zangetsu's trousers are basically the bottom half of a Shihakusho. I was tempted to give him the coat as well, but I think he looks cooler with just the trousers.**

 **Now, I'll be perfectly honest, I'm probably going to switch to another story after this chapter or, if not this one, the next one. I really REALLY wanna do my new Persona idea, but I'm sick of leaving stories of cliffhangers. So, I decided to wrap up this chapter since it also serves to wrap up the first arc of this story. I might come back to it later after I finish Hunter.**

 **Anyway, that'll do for now. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!**


End file.
